Undated courtesy photo of Steve Swere, left, and Catherine Johnson Justice, who plays Carol Thompson in the play, Ã¢â‚¬Å“Carol and Cotton: Minnesota's Crime of the Century.Ã¢â‚¬? She and Steve Sweere play Carol Thompson and T. Eugene "Cotton " Thompson in the play, which chronicles the March 6, 1963, murder of Highland Park housewife Carol Thompson. James Vculek, artistic director of Partizan Theater, thinks that the impending 50th anniversary of the murder will spur folks to see his play, which opens Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 for a nine-show run at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage. Photo by Louis Longpre, courtesy of Partizan Theater.

T. Eugene Thompson, right, is arrested by St. Paul Detective Ernest Williams on June 21, 1963. In one of St. Paul's most celebrated murder cases, 34-year-old Carol Thompson was found beaten and stabbed to death in her Highland Park home on March 6, 1963. Later, her husband, T. Eugene Thompson, is convicted of hiring two men to murder her. Prosecutors said he had the mother of his four children killed so he could collect on life insurance policies worth just over $1 million, and so he would be free to carry on with his mistress. Thompson was convicted of first-degree murder nine months after the killing and sentenced to life in prison. He was freed in 1982 after 19 years. (Pioneer Press file photo)

James Vculek still remembers Minnesota’s crime of the century, the March 6, 1963, murder of Highland Park housewife Carol Thompson.

“I grew up in St. Paul and was a very young child when it happened,” said Vculek, artistic director of Partizan Theater. “Even as a kid, I knew it was a big deal. You couldn’t escape it. It dominated the news for months and months.”

Vculek is hoping he’s not the only one who remembers, and that the impending 50th anniversary of the murder will prompt folks to see his play, “Carol and Cotton: Minnesota’s Crime of the Century,” which opens Thursday, Feb. 28, for a nine-show run at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage.

“Carol and Cotton” debuted during Minnesota Fringe Festival in August to warm reviews from the local media and audiences. Fringe Ultrapass holders — who could see as many shows as they wanted during the 11-day festival of alternative theater — voted it the Fringe’s best drama. It tells the story of T. Eugene “Cotton” Thompson, a St. Paul lawyer who hired an ill-equipped hitman to murder his wife, Carol, in the home they shared with four children.

Despite Thompson’s careful plans — including getting rid of the family dog and removing a phone Carol would have used to call for help — his contract killer struggled with the hit and left Carol with a knife stuck in her neck, yet able to make it to a neighbor’s house before collapsing. She died hours later, but soon after, the police found her attacker, who was ready to talk. By that December, Thompson was convicted of planning the crime. He was paroled in 1983.

The similarities of the tale to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film “Dial M for Murder” inspired the title of a 2006 book about the case, “Dial M: The Murder of Carol Thompson.”

With just two actors — Catherine Johnson Justice and Steve Sweere — and no set beyond a few stools, the show feels like a made-for-the-Fringe piece. Keeping it simple, Vculek said, was always the plan. “That’s the way I always pictured it, with the actors telling the story. Without an elaborate set, it’s almost like radio. I think Catherine and Steve really do evoke the setting. You picture the room, the bathroom, the brutal murder.”

Think of this encore performance as the “director’s cut,” as Vculek has added two more characters — each actor portrays several key figures from the murder — and expanded the running time to 85 minutes. “I wanted to get more into the family dynamics,” he said. “But I also wanted to get into just how huge the investigation was, how long it went on and the huge impact it had on the Twin Cities.”

While Vculek wrote the dialogue for “Carol and Cotton,” he tried to keep everything tied to the facts of the story. He used original sources during the process, including the appellate opinions of Eugene’s various appeals over the years. Vculek doesn’t think any of the Thompson family members attended the Fringe shows, but he’s heard rumblings that at least one may attend an upcoming performance.

After doing the research and writing and guiding “Carol and Cotton” through the Fringe and the newly expanded version, Vculek still can’t quite explain why it all happened. “I really don’t have a grip on Eugene Thompson,” he said. “I don’t get how a guy in that position — a married, family man with a very comfortable life — decides to kill his wife.”

“I don’t think the play explains Eugene. It does set out everything that happened, all the inconsistencies and ironies. The audience is left to decide how this guy could have done it.”

A Minnesota native, Ross Raihala joined the Pioneer Press as pop music critic in 2004, after stints at The Forum in Fargo, N.D., and The Olympian in Olympia, Wash. He covers local and national music as well as some theater and other arts and entertainment topics. His favorite part of his job is reviewing, and live tweeting, Twin Cities arena concerts. And, yes, he saw the same show you did.

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